Lisa Wess
Lisa Wess
VP of Operations

SXSW By You, For You

Feb 23, 2010 Permalink Discuss

Over the course of the last few years we have gradually changed our approach to SXSW, preferring to move toward a small-group discussion format.

This is a great move for EllisLab and for the community; there is an immeasurable value to this discourse.  This year we are excited to continue with this format and to add to it; this year, you, through the services at UserVoice, will have the opportunity to choose where we meet and what we discuss.

First we will be offering Lunch with EllisLab to exceptional contributors to the community, including those who run ExpressionEngine or CodeIgniter community sites, third party add-on developers, and Pro Net members.  This is your opportunity to tell us what we can do to support your endeavor while enjoying a meal on our tab.

Next, we will be at the following locations around the Austin downtown area - come and join us!

Saturday: 2-3:30pm
Austin Duck Adventure  We have a private charter Hydra Terra vehicle, touring Austin and Austin Lake.  We can take about 30 guests, and will be leaving from the Hilton for this unique experience, boarding at 1:50pm.

Sunday: 10-11am
Circus Mashimus  Lounge on the first floor of the convention center with cushy seating, drinks and snacks on us.  If you like, we’ll cruise the Screenburn Arcade next door.

Sunday: 4-5pm
ELEVEN API Lounge - Hilton Room 406.  This lounge is new to SXSW this year.  With its convenient location, if for some reason it is overly crowded or noisy, we can sneak away to the lobby or the executive lounge.

Lastly we have setup specific time slots for which you will be able to choose the venue and topic on our UserVoice forum.  These are listed below:

  • Saturday: 10-11am
  • Saturday: 4-5pm
  • Sunday: 2-3pm

Where will you send EllisLab?  One of SXSW’s official lounges?  A comfy hotel lobby?  The Hilton Executive lounge (we have access)?  A walk through of the trade show with you?  Which venue we choose from your suggestions will be determined by the number of votes at UserVoice factored in with the logistics of us pulling it off (distance from Hilton, expense, etc.)  We can talk about whatever you like.  Business opportunities, implementation woes, how to get all three coins in world 9-7 of Super Mario Brothers for Wii, whatever you want.  Don’t forget to include the day and time that you’re requesting!

In order to facilitate discussion, all groups will be kept small, so sign-up early; spots will fill up fast.  Available locations and dates can be found in our SXSW 2010 forum.

We’ll be keeping our evenings largely free for spontaneous meetups, with the exception of late Saturday night, where we will be attending Ok Happy Cog’aoke 2, a fantastic karaoke event hosted by Happy Cog that we’re proud to be an official sponsor of.

And on Monday night you won’t want to miss the EECI2010 preParty @ SXSW!  Free beer and pizza, and even free tickets to the event!  Register soon, as space is limited.  During the conference, you’ll want to follow us on Twitter as we’ll be making frequent updates as to our whereabouts.

This year builds on our fantastic success last year with the mini “meet and greets”; we are excited to grow our relationships with those at the forefront of our communities, and to see what you will come up with for us to do, together.  It’s going to be a great SXSW!